Gold News & Info

Source: Dr. Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold dipped 0.2% in thin trade as the dollar strengthened behind deepening eurozone uncertainty and worries about hurricane Sandy. European markets were rattled today when former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi threatened to form a breakaway party that could undermine the Italian government by pulling supporters away Prime Minister Monti. The threat caused anxiety in the fragile financial markets, which see Monti as Italy's fiscal savior. In Spain, retail sales fell by 11% last month and GDP fell for a fifth quarter as the economy continues to deteriorate. The dollar gained on safe-haven inflows, aided by worries about the impact of Sandy, potentially the largest hurricane ever to hit the U.S. mainland. A rising dollar pressures gold by making it more expensive to holders of other currencies. New York markets were close because of the hurricane. The other precious metals also fell, with silver dropping 0.9%, platinum 0.8%, and palladium 1%.

At the Comex close: December gold dipped $3.20 to $1,708.70; December silver fell 29 cents to $31.75; January platinum lost $12.10 to $1,533.9; and December palladium dropped $5.65 to $589.75 an ounce.

Gold is likely to trade in a narrow range at least until the release of Friday's non-farms payroll report. The Fed has explicitly tied monetary easing to improvements in the labor market. A soft report could rally gold by building expectations of additional easing, while a strong report could raise questions about a lengthy continuation of QE3.